Afternoon Workshops

Workshops in Room 307

Cailin Creighton, iFly: Cailin explained the format of educational programs available at iFly Indoor Skydiving in Union City, CA. There are several topics available for lectures, classroom examples as well as experiments at the facility. The educational program includes a tour of the wind tunnel, a lecture tailored for your class and one minute flights for students. Information about the program is available here. Any material developed by teachers relevant to the iFly experience can be sent to Cailin and contributed to a teacher resource page. (cailin@iflysfbay.com) Promo Code: “EDUCATION” 20% off first time flyer “earn your wings,” “spread your wings,” and “take flight” programs.

Scott Perry, Wind Energy: A Sustainable Future?: Scott discussed the possibilities for sustainable energy and some of the difficulties with such a discussion. One hurdle that teachers can appreciate is that each country or business entity deals in different units (barrels of oil, BTUs, kWh, etc.).  Scott suggested that everyone read David McKay’s book “Sustainable Energy Without the Hot Air;” it is a free publication that discusses different sustainable energy options. Jared Diamond’s book “Collapse” was also recommended which discusses several populations use and overuse of energy sources.. The United States (~5% of the world’s population) uses ~20% of the energy used in the entire world. Some companies are looking at larger wind farms along the coasts of the United States; it is a goal that 20% of the United States Electric Energy Production by 2030 is wind energy.

Byron Philhour, Lunar Landing Project: Students produce numerical simulations of an Apollo-style launch using kinematics & drag equations. Students are supplied with the mass, and the thrust in conjunction with a drag atmospheric model to create this information. This project also requires students to work with angular momentum, energy, etc. to prepare for the Advanced Placement exam. The Lunar Lander Project is a long challenging assignment meant to challenge AP level students.

Bernard Cleyet, Not the Usual Coupled Oscillators: Bernard discussed various experiments using coupled oscillators and their decay.

Kevin McLin, Using Global Telescope Networks for Research & Science Education: Kevin discussed various programs that use telescope networks and allow students in high school, middle school and even elementary school to work with data from these networks.

Bree Barnett Dreyfuss, Using Class Facebook Fan Pages: Facebook is a free online social networking site that allows people to share information, pictures, etc. A “fan page” can be created for a classroom that allows students to communicate with each other and the teacher in a different format. Instructions were given on how to create the page, as well as warnings and suggestions. You can visit Bree’s fan page or obtain workshop information on her website under “Professional Development.”